Poor, poor Lizzie the Victim. Of course, she never, ever makes snidey sideswipes at people to provoke them in to responding to her, and then cries foul when they do...that would never, EVER happen.

But because poor, beleaguered Phil Beer told me at the folk awards he was very happy to have her reminded of what he said to her a few months ago, here it is again for those who may have missed it. You'll note what he actually said was quite different to Lizzie's version of it, but maybe she needs reminding again:


"Ok Enough now!!

I pass through these boards once every couple of weeks but simply don't have time to peruse them regularly. I'm too busy gigging or recording and they are my priorities in life. I'm far more concerned with doing it than talking about it. Please forgive me posting this in one thread when it is relevant to several, and indeed to other boards as well. (Please feel free to cut and paste, anyone who chooses to!) The last bit of this piece is completely relevent to the thread.

LC. I don't know who you are, only that you are from my patch and seem to have seen us rather more times than is, perhaps, healthy. Maybe I spoke to you even on the last two local shows . I don't know. I understand that you mean well and that you feel you are championing some sort of cause on our (and indeed others) behalfs. Let me explain a bit about this internet place. Its not a universal fanzine. Its a genre specific place of chat and discussion for a bunch of folks, many of whom have a great deal of knowledge and indeed expertise in their subject. I know many of them as both friends and acquaintances. My band makes music that has one of its (Possibly cloven) hooves in this place and the other three 'Out There' in the rest of the world. Many of the folks here consider themselves as (self appointed) guardians of something rare and precious. I have ABSOLUTELY no problem with this. All I ask is that they maintain visiting hours so that I can get on with building the new wing (Crap metaphor, sorry!) whilst having access to the edifice. (Also a self appointed task) Virtually everyone contributing here decided whether they liked/disliked our music more than 15 years ago. Our task is as always to bring the music to a wider audience and whether or not anyone here likes or dislikes us is not relevant.

What is important now is that I must try and make you understand the difference between things like, say, the Folk Awards, the Mercury Prize and the EFDSS badge. They serve their purposes in order to obtain a degree of status in the world at large. They give us something to say about ourselves in press releases and are sometimes good for the personal ego. Thats all.

When Ian A pushed for the EFDSS badge for Walter Pardon, it was an entirely and utterly different ball game. The EFDSS at that juncture was internally and politically in a very odd place in which song took a very poor back seat to dance ( Hence---DEAFASS the Dance Earnestly And Forget About Song Society) I never bothered with the Sidmouth festival in my younger days because it was 90% dance oriented.

This small but significant internal award to Walter was actually very very important in terms of getting the powers to recognise that here was a person of great stature and importance as a real, living, singing, purveyor of traditional song. None of us can ever be that. At best, if we're very lucky, some of what we do may pass into the song line. It would be good to think so, however, nothing that we do can possibly be compared to what Walter actually WAS (To quote SK).

Please Lizzie. I'm delighted that you like our music. We are absolutely clear about who we are, what we are doing, and where its going. I just turned 56 last week. I still have the will and the energy and the best is yet to come. I can handle any form of abuse, misconception, or downright vitriol. What I do NOT wish to be portrayed as is a member of some form of geriatric Boy Band. This sort of adulation is utterly embarrassing and I'd really like it to stop now.

Sorry to take up everyone elses time. I'm delighted that the EFDSS is in the shape its in now. It bodes well for the future. We are not just passing through, we are taking it with us. Keep the doors open and the pages turning!!!

Phil (Should be in the studio) Beer"